RWBY Fanfiction: A Remnant Of Eminence
by KinkyVelvet
Summary: Evan Noctis, Nina Elayor, Claire Monarque, and Ed VeLey were a popular team at Beacon Academy, skilled in combat and close friends, before things went horribly wrong with one simple event on one bad night. The team at first simply goes and struggles through school together, but later on has to push past their own limits to save the world.


Chapter One - Welcome To Beacon Academy

" _Finally, we're here!"_ thought a boy, as the ship landed in front of the school. The doors soon after opened, and the to-be first-year students poured excitedly out of the ship. They hopped, skipped, and ran to their new school in pure joy. Yet, one student seemed to lag behind all the others.

This student had medium black hair, combed neatly on his head. It still blew into disorder as the other nearby ships flew up and off. His pale hand lifted his scroll, and raised the volume of his music to compensate for the noise the wind made. With his other hand, he brushed his black locks away from his ocean blue eyes, which lifted up and pierced the new school with a calm gaze. He cleared his throat. He checked his scroll one more time, before placing it in his pant pocket. "Hmm." he said aloud, even though all the other students were several dozen feet ahead of him by now. He lifted his thumb to the screen and skipped the song that was playing, allowing a new one to come onto his playlist, flowing through the wires of his earbuds that were tucked gently under his dress shirt and into his mind.

" _What was that for?"_ The black-haired boy heard. " _That was a good song."_ The boy shrugged, the fabrics of his black leather jacket generating audible friction as they rubbed against one another. "That it is." He responded aloud. "I just don't feel like listenin' to it right now." The boy continued walking, pulling aside the zipper of his jacket and sliding his scroll into his pocket, before raising both his hands to adjust the collar of his black shirt. " _You're weird."_ The voice said. The boy smiled a disturbing smile under his blue eyes. "That I am."

The boy's long blue jeans scraped audibly along the stone of the pathway. The jeans were slightly too long for his short legs, and the bottoms had been torn to bits by his black shoes. Short, knotty white strings dangled behind the heels of the jeans, covered in dust and other materials. The boy threw the corners of his jacket back and slid his hands into his pant pockets. He looked around curiously at the campus of his new school, although his face didn't show it. His face bore a look of quiet contempt, as his blank and expressionless eyes scanned the area. "Nice place. To be honest, I'm glad I'm gonna get to be livin' here. A guy could get used to a nice campus like this one." He spoke aloud. " _Indeed."_ The voice said. " _Hm. Damn nice view of the building, too."_ The boy looked up at the building, Beacon Academy. It bore several high towers, some interconnected with one another via large stone bridges of sorts, some standing alone. They all varied in height, but one quite literally stood above all the others. Yellow lights of sorts seemed to hover and glow behind a large metal cage, with points at the tops of the few towers that rose above all else.

The boy laughed to himself, but he didn't open his mouth, let alone smile. His expression barely changed, the only noticeable difference was the ever so slight raise of his black eyebrows. "True, true, but it looks almost offensively expensive." The voice laughed. "Check it out, I'm Professor Ozpin!" The boy said satirically, ruffling his black hair up with his pale and stiff hands. "I might have spent the entirety of Vale's GDP, and the townspeople are probably starving, but I got a pretty sweet pad!" The voice only laughed harder at this, all while the boy reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small metal object. He pressed a button on it, and a small comb swung out from it. The boy ran it through his hair, and soon enough it was back to it's normal, neat state. The boy put the comb back into its proper spot, and placed it again in his pocket. " _Hey."_ The voice said. " _Ya think that's the room we gotta head into first thing?"_ The boy turned his gaze to the main entrance to the academy, a large entrance leading to a foyer of sorts, where hundreds of other to-be first-years were gathered, talking and waiting patiently. "Yeah, I guess it is. Let's go inside." The boy started pacing forward slowly, skipping another song on his scroll. "Do your disappearin' act." The boy said aloud, without looking up from his scroll. After a moment of slow, reluctant walking, they boy entered Beacon Academy for the first time.

She stood in the corner. Her orange patterned wings wrapped themselves around her petite, frail body. Seeing this many new people, human and faunus alike, made her blush in fear and cowardice. Under those monarch wings lay a young, afraid huntress in training. She remained deadly silent, not daring to gain any unwanted attention from potential bullies, but thoughts ran wild in the girl's head underneath her rose locks.

" _Why do we have to gather in a room together? Why's it so crowded?"_ Her high, soft-spoken voice questioned in the confines of her mind, the one place nobody could bother her. As she gently connected her back to the wall, being careful not to harm her fragile, angelic wings, she folded her arms and let her legs relax. Her back slid slowly down the wall, and she soon found herself sitting. She looked upset, and she was to a degree, but she was also content. She wasn't a fan of others, but she most certainly liked her own company and comfort. She sighed silently to herself, her warm breath grazing over her knees and gently taking flight into the busy atmosphere that surrounded the butterfly girl.

Her head hung low, and she closed her eyes. She wasn't tired, no. She just wanted to block out the surrounding jumble of noises and voices that was the massive group of to-be first-years present in front of her. Meanwhile, another student was attempting to block out a different set of voices.

The black haired boy slowly strolled into the main hall, placing his scroll into his pant pocket and allowing his hands to rest in both pockets thereafter. Without producing a noise, his ocean marbles glided across the crowd of loud, obnoxious students. He too, sighed to himself. The noise of the air leaving his nose sounded annoyed, dissatisfied, almost narcissistic. As he slowly, deeply inhaled once more, his eyes caught a young girl with pink hair cuddled up in the corner to his right. Her monarch butterfly wings wrapped around her like a cocoon, and her head hung low. The only feature the boy could see from the angle he found himself at other than the aforementioned hair and wings, were little pink shoes, each knotted with a black bow, peeking out of long, black pant legs. The boy's eyes glanced once more to the indifferent crowd, lost in their own dull conversations. " _Might as well."_ The boy thought to himself, laying his ocean blues on the pink haired girl once again. " _Could make her a friend. Could use one of those."_ He chuckled to himself again, but his mouth once more remained indifferent to the emotion. He lifted his black shoes in front of one another and paced gingerly over to the faunus. He bent his head to the side, and a loud crack lept out of his stiff neck, before he bent his head back into place and reviewed his appearance, adjusting his outfit to make himself " _somewhat presentable"_ , as he put it in his overconfident mind.

The silence grew in the rose haired girl's ears, the noise of social interaction faded out. Her ears felt like they were underwater, all noise had left. She'd finally blocked out the noise of the outside. She finally began to relax her head. It was over, she'd finally made it into Beacon, after all the pressure and running from the W-

"H-e-l-l-o-?" A muffled voice called, nuzzling its way through her little mental barrier. Her heterochromic eyes peeled open, and she plummeted back into reality again. She'd almost forgotten where she was. "Hello?" The voice called again, sounding moderately annoyed in its deep tone. The girl heard it from her left mostly, and her head pivoted in that direction to find the source of her disturbance. "Bout time. Hi." The girl saw a huntsman standing before her, at an angle. He wore, going up, black shoes, blue jeans, and a black leather jacket over a black dress shirt, buttoned to the top, save the very top one. He had a pale face buried under his ragged, but somewhat still organized black hair. His piercing blue eyes met her blue eyes. One eye, the left of hers, was a lighter shade of blue than the right, but they both still glowed in anxiety nonetheless. The huntsman extended a pale hand, the fabrics of his jacket rubbing against each other as he swung his stiffened arm out to her. "Need a hand?"

The girl shook her head no, and stood up by herself, unwrapping her short body from the comforted confines of her wings. The boy lowered his hand to his side, and placed it in his jacket pocket. The two hunters locked eyes for but a moment. The boy said "Hi." To the girl in an almost annoyed tone, as the girl lowered her gaze and attempted to control her burning cheeks. "What's up? You okay?" The boy questioned of her. The girl nodded her head yes as she brushed her rose hair from her pale face. The boy thought to himself " _Ohh, boy. What have I gotten myself into now?"_ "Just one more question before I introduce myself." The boy said aloud now. "Can you say anything at all?" He smiled sweetly, and the girl giggled to herself. "Y- Yeah." She said softly, in a high-pitched tone. The boy widened his eyes slightly and said "She speaks!" The girl smiled at his humor. "Now that I've got ya talkin," The boy added. "Can I ask your name?" The girl cleared her throat, and looked up at him. "I- It's, Claire." The boy tilted his head and smiled as she spoke. "Hm. That's a very beautiful name, Claire." Claire chuckled and blushed hard, but she looked down to hide it as best she could. Her wings quivered gently. The boy extended his arm swiftly towards her. "Name's Evan. Nice to meet ya."

Claire took Evan's hand in hers and gave it a gentle shake before swiftly bringing her hand back to the side of her black sweatpants. His hand felt cold in hers, icy to the very touch. Yet, somehow, soft and delicate, like a cold pillow. Her hand felt slender and weak in his, like the skin was made of flower petals, but the hard bones underneath made themselves noticeable. Evan placed his hand in his coat pocket again as he racked his brain for a question to ask the butterfly faunus. "So, where'd you come here from?" He asked. She seemed to hesitate in her answer, but eventually stuttered out "I- Um, just, Vale, I guess…" Evan shrugged, glancing over the crowd with a quick look. "Same here. Vale's nice, though. Any specific part?" He inquired. Claire tied her hands behind her back, looking down to her foot as she rubbed the heel against the hard ground. "Um, n- no, j- just, around." Evan turned to her momentarily before giving her an odd look. "Yo, I don't mean to pry, I don't, but you don't seem very excited to be here."

Claire looked up and tried to stand upright. "I, I'm just, n- nervous." She stuttered. "Bout what?" Evan asked quickly, seeming to have no regard for the present seriousness of their talk. He acted as chipper as he had been with her, despite the change in tone of conversation. "Um, just, people." "People?" Evan asked, raising an eyebrow. Claire didn't say anything, she just folded her arms and wrapped her wings around herself again. Evan gave her a look of understanding. "Mm. You're worried that people are gonna be mean to you because you're a faunus, right?" He stated flatly. "Mhm." Claire uttered, nodding and leaving her head hanging in shame. "No need to worry about it. I won't let anyone bully ya. I've got your back." Claire looked up in genuine shock at what he'd said. "Y- you, you what?" Evan just shrugged with a smile. Claire observed him keenly, with a look of confusion on her face. "Ha- haven't you ever, dealt with bullying, before?" She asked, leaning to the side. Evan's black wolf tail wagged behind him slowly, as if swaying in a breeze. "What, for this thing?" He said, raising it in the air behind him. "Course! I just don't tolerate it. People don't mess with me when I show them they'd better not." Claire gave his face a look of confusion now. Evan just smiled and tilted his head, closing his eyes as his black wolf ears twitched atop his head. Claire silently giggled. While she looked away, Evan looked off to the crowd in contempt, an almost startling change from the gentle nature he'd been directing to Claire. "Never toleratin bullyin again." He muttered to himself without her hearing.

Evan looked back over to Claire and saw her leaning against the wall in a closed-off sort of fashion. Her arms were folded up and her face was pointed towards them. Evan spun on his heel and leaned against it beside her. He turned to her with a look of relaxed concern. "All ya gotta do is show people that you don't tolerate bullying, and they won't bully ya. Worked for me, It'll work for you." Claire turned to him, not sure what to say. She thought to herself " _There's no way I'd be able to tell someone off. I'm nowhere near that brave, and I doubt I ever will be."_ She spoke up, and said "W- will, that, really, work?" Evan shrugged. "It won't not work." Claire smiled at this, and Evan smiled back. They had a moment of just staring at each other. Claire was happy in her new friend's company. From what she saw, he was a very empathetic person, and already cared deeply for her. She blushed and looked away quickly. Evan expressed a look of concern as she did this, and stood upright. He paced slightly closer to her, saying "Claire, you okay?" "I'm fine." She said, keeping her face aimed away from him. "You sure? Your face is all red." "I'm fine!" She insisted, still in a relatively quiet tone. Suddenly, a microphone gave feedback from the other end of the room. A man with grey hair and strange glasses stood in front of it, holding the stand with one hand and a cup of coffee in his other. "I'll… Keep this brief." He said in a very stoic tone. "Thank Oum." Claire muttered as Evan shrugged and turned to face the stage the man stood upon.

"Hmm." Evan thought to himself. "No point in entertainin friends if ya can't entertain yourself as well, I guess." He looked at the uncomfortable faunus and chuckled to himself, still not smiling as he laughed.

"You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills." Evan stood in a seemingly irritated fashion as the man spoke, he crossed his arms and stared arrogantly. Claire shuffled a little bit away from Evan, but still stayed close. She adjusted her black jacket. "And when you have finished… You plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." Claire silently nodded to herself, but Evan just shrugged. "Mhm." Was all he let out, still staring down the man on stage. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy." Evan uncrossed his arms in objection. "Wha- wasted energy? The hell's that mean? I'm one of the best hunters you're gonna train!" He said to himself. Claire looked at his actions in confusion, but said nothing to him, nor the man on stage. "In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge, can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." The man elaborated. Evan cracked his knuckles, staring him down from the back. He then abruptly walked off the stage, and the crowd began to murmur. "Wha- that's it?" Evan said in a very irritated manner. Claire shrugged, but still kept her little mouth shut. A blonde woman then stepped up on the stage and took the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight." She said. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." And with that, she walked off the stage after the grey haired man. The crowd murmured on, and people slowly trickled out of the room, some in the direction of the ballroom, some in other directions. "Well that was barely anything, that's all I've really got on that." Evan said. Claire slowly walked behind him in the direction of the door. Evan looked to his right, and upon not seeing her, looked around in a daze. He spotted her walking off, arms crossed. He began to lightly sprint after her, his black hair dancing lightly in the wind. As he caught up to the introverted butterfly, he slowed his pace and walked beside her, on her left. "Hey!" He said calmly, simply getting her attention. "Hm?" Claire responded, turning her head to face her peculiar new acquaintance. "Where ya headed off to?" Claire blushed. "Um, n- nowhere, r- really…" She stuttered in response. Evan laughed briefly at her nervous response. "Don't kid me, everybody's headed somewhere. Where ya goin?" He smiled at her, and his eyes smiled brightly as well. He stared at her in a strange state of happiness she hadn't seen him in just a moment ago. His mood changed so quickly, Claire didn't get it. But she had to answer the question put to her. "Um, just, a walk, I guess. A- around the school. So, I can get used to, the campus." She cleared her throat. Evan smiled bigger, putting his right hand in his coat pocket. "Sounds like a great idea! And smart, may I add. Mind if I come with?" Claire was shocked at the offer, her face turned red, and her eyes widened. She stuttered, but gave no actual response. "I, um, well, ah, y-" "Claire, you alright?" He asked suddenly, his face hastily switching to a look of moderate concern. "Hm?" She asked. "Your face is all red. Again." Her face somehow turned even redder at that remark. She turned away, a lock of her rose hair covering her burning cheeks. "I- I'm fine! I- it-" Before she could attempt to continue, the pair heard arrogant laughter coming from in front of them.

"A wolf AND a butterfly? Weird pair, huh?" A tall boy with orange hair commented as he stepped out of the exodus and in front of the two faunus students. "How the hell did you even get in here? Somebody throw a tennis ball in here?" He said, crossing his arms and staring Evan down. "Um, yes actually." Evan responded in a very sarcastic, almost angry tone. "I was told there were balls in here. But, seeing as you don't seem to have any, I'll check elsewhere." Claire turned to him in a mix of surprise and empathy. "Don't…" She whispered to him as he locked eyes with the tall boy. "The hell did you say to me?" He said, raising his voice and stepping towards Evan. "Sorry, did you not hear me with that, half the number of ears I have?" There was an eerie silence as the bully leaned down to Evan's height and stared into his blank eyes. To Claire's surprise, Evan remained remarkably unphased by the physical intimidation the bully tried to output. "Do you need something?" He asked flatly, his relaxed eyes staring back into the eyes of pure, unadulterated rage. "Yeah. I need you to watch your damn mouth, because one day you're gonna piss off the wrong huma-" "What, are you gonna muzzle me?" Evan interrupted. "That's it!" The ginger shouted, striking Evan hard in the cheek with a right hook. Claire stepped back, shouting "EVAN!" as the fist met his pale face. As it struck, Evan's cheek glowed blue for a split second, the split second the bully's fist was making an impact. Evan stumbled slightly to the side, but easily kept his footing. He stepped to the side and raised his hand to his untouched cheek. The bully grabbed his hand in pain as it began to turn red at the knuckles. "OW! What the-" "Are you okay?" Claire interrupted, pacing towards Evan in an arch that led her away from the bully. He, however, stepped in front of her and locked eyes with her. Claire stopped short and looked up at her intimidating foe. She began to tremble in her boots and turn red as he stood over her in disdain. "What, do you care for him or something?" Claire said nothing, she simply stepped back gingerly. "Don't walk away from me!" He yelled at her, grabbing her black coat's sleeve and pulling her close. "I'm not done with you yet." He said into her ear. "L… let me go…" She forced out. The ginger simply laughed. "You heard that, I'm sure." Evan said behind him. The bully turned around and looked at the furious wolf. "Let her go." "You know, kid, you've got a hell of a mouth. I just might muzzle you if you don't shut it yourself." Evan stepped back, raising his hands and leaving himself open. "Alright then. Come do it." The ginger released Claire's shaking arm and walked towards the wolf.

As the bully was about halfway between the two faunus, Evan put his hand out. "Stop." The bully stopped in his tracks in confusion. "Wh, what are you-" "Claire, come on. Let's get out of here." Evan said, navigating around him and putting his arm around her. She turned very red at this, put paced along nonetheless, trembling still. Evan and Claire walked for a moment before Evan felt a strong tug on his tail. He released Claire and tightened his hand to a fist, but held it down with his other hand as he spun around. "What?" He snapped. "Still not done." The ginger said. "You don't have to bully people like us. We don't mean you any harm." Evan said in a more emotional, slightly protective tone. "Just let us go." "I can't just let you go!" The bully shouted. Lowering his voice, he added. "Animals are meant to be caged up." With that, he swung a fist at Evan's face. Before it even struck, Evan rose a hand and caught it just inches from his eye. His hand glowed a bright blue, just like his cheek had earlier. Evan quickly raised his other hand and, while twisting the fist to the left 90 degrees, slammed his lower palm into the bully's wrist. His palm glowed blue upon impact, and the bully yelled in pain. As he stumbled back, Evan swung his fist to land an uppercut on his opponent's jaw. Suddenly, his fist stopped. His own hand had caught it, and he looked down at his fist in frustration. The bully called out in pain again, holding his wrist tight.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" A shrill voice called out from across the room. The blonde woman from the stage stormed towards them. The bully looked up to her, immediately deciding to play the victim. "H… He hit me!" The woman arrived at the scene and looked down at the wolf. "Is that true?" "Yeah, it's true." He immediately responded, in a dangerously casual tone. "In self-defense." He added. The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "Explain yourself." "I tried to talk him down, and I tried to vacate the situation. Neither worked, and I was forced to fight back." The bully looked at him in irritation. There was nothing he could say to that. "And that's not even mentioning the fact that he struck me first."

The blonde looked to Claire suddenly. "Is this true, young lady? I assume you bore witness to the conflict." She spoke in an annoyed, threateningly calm tone. Claire looked down in embarrassment, but still nodded gingerly, without looking at anyone directly. "I wouldn't have hit him, had I not been forced to." Evan said, looking at the blonde still. "It seems you're right, young man." She said in a defeated tone. "You, on the other hand, are going to have to come with me. Harming other students outside of training is strictly forbidden." She grabbed the bully by the arm and left the room with him. The bully gave Evan a dirty look as he was forced to leave, and Evan simply smiled back. Suddenly, Evan and Claire were alone in the room together. Evan began to rub his temple with his fingertips in, seemingly, annoyance. Claire looked up at the boy sympathetically. "Th… thanks…" She said. Evan didn't respond. As Claire was about to open her mouth and speak again, Evan said "You're welcome." He didn't even look up at her, he just continued rubbing his head. He moved his hand to his eye and softly rubbed it. Claire grew concerned. "Are… you okay?" "I gotta go." Evan responded almost immediately. He paused. "Meet me here in an hour, we'll take our walk then." He said quickly, as he turned and walked rather fast out of the room, still rubbing his head. He turned to the right and was then out of Claire's sight.

Claire stood sadly in the empty room staring at the door. She thought to herself. "I sure hope he's okay… I hope I didn't do anything to upset him…" She bore a look of quiet concern on her face, before slowly pacing out of the room herself. Once she met the outside, she looked around. Evan was gone, and she had no idea where he'd gone. Having no choice but to shrug her concern for her new friend off, she looked up. Turning around, she saw the tower of Beacon. It stood high, almost as if it stood over her, as if it knew the butterfly girl was standing at its feet, and was trying to intimidate her. As pretty as the structure was, Claire remained unmoved by it. She looked back down to her pink shoes, and bent her knees. Her wings extended and stretched outwards as she looked up towards the roof of the tower. She almost knelt down when she began studying the structure, almost analytically. She remained kneeling for another moment, before quickly extending her legs and leaping off the ground. She went floating up at a decent speed, but still slow enough for the butterfly to keep her eyes open. Her wings began flapping back and forth, and she hovered about twenty feet off the ground. She smiled to herself. She began to fly a bit further up, seeing the ground grow smaller as she rose above everyone else. The feeling of flight was amazing. The wind in her rose hair, the weightlessness of her body, the motion of her wings, the lack of pressure on her feet, she loved the feeling of flying. She was completely surrounded by nothing, just herself. She could be alone up here, away from any distractions. As she neared the top of the tower, she flew at an angle towards the structure, intending to land softly upon the roof. As far as she knew, there were no other faunus with the ability to fly in the school, especially since flying faunus are especially rare. She believed she could be alone up here, and after that encounter with large crowds and bullies, it was exactly what she needed.

" _WHATTHEHELLISWRONGWITHYOUEVAN?YOUALMOSTUSEDEXCESSIVEFORCE!WHATDIDWETALKABOUT?YOU'RENOTSUPPOSEDTODOTHATORYOU'LLGETINTROUBLE?WEDON'TWANTTHAT,NOWDOWE?"_ Evan ran down the sidewalk plugging his ears and looking for a place to sit. " _PLUSYOUALMOSTSHOWEDYOURBRANDNEWFRIENDCLAIREWHOYOUAREUNDERNEATH!SHEPROBABLYALREADYFIGUREDYOUOUT!YOUNEEDTOBEMORECAREFUL!WHATIFSHETELLSSOMEONE?WHATIFSHETELLSOZPIN?THENWE'REINTROUBLE!HEMIGHTKICKUSOUTOFBEACON!THENWHATDOWEDO?"_ Evan sat behind a tree, facing away from the school. He, although he could barely see, looked around and made sure there was nobody around. " _WHATTHEHELLAREYOULOOKINGFOREVAN?OHHYOU'RELOOKINGFORPEOPLEAREN'TYOU?WHATIFSOMEONESEESYOUACTINGUP?THEYMIGHTTELLOZPIN!IFHEFINDSOUTWHAT'SREALLYWRONGWITHYOUHEWILLKICKYOUOUT!BECAREFUL!"_ Evan buried his face in his knees and held his hands to his trembling head. "Be quiet!" he whispered to himself. " _ANDWHYSHOULDI?I'MONLYTRYINGTOHELPYOU!"_ "Screaming inside my head isn't helping! Why are you doing this to me?! I don't deserve this! I've never killed anyone, not even the people I should have killed back then! They all lived! Why are you torturing me?!" " _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!YOU'REBEINGABSURD!YOUHAVEADESIRETOKILLANDTHAT'SWHAT'SWRONG!YOUCAN'TDOTHAT!YOUSAWHOWYOUALMOSTWENTOOFARONTHATBULLY!IFYOUKILLWE'LLGETPUTINONEOFTHOSEPADDEDWHITEROOMSINADAMNSTRAIGHTJACKET!IKNOWYOUDON'TWANTTHAT!I'MHELLBENTONTORTURINGYOULIKETHISUNTILYOUBECOMEABETTERMANSOWEDON'THAVETOPAYTHEFINEFORBEINGTHEDIFFERENTPEOPLEWEARESETBYTHOSEFOOLISHPEOPLEHUMANANDFAUNUSALIKE!"_ "Shut up shut up SHUT UP!" Evan said, trying his best to keep his voice to a whisper. " _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…"_ Evan held his head tightly. "GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Claire's soft little feet gently kissed the metal of the tower's roof. She looked around and saw she was finally alone, nobody stood anywhere she saw. She was finally in her own company and hers alone. She bent her knees and sat down upon the metal of the building, using her hand as a support. She sat facing the skies, her hands interlocked in front of her knees, bent at 90 degree angles in front of her. She sighed and thought to herself. " _I hope Evan's alright…"_ her face changed to a look of quiet despair. " _I can't believe he, defended me so quickly. Nobody's ever defended me like that before…"_ she sat in the silence. Nothing moved, nothing even breathed, the area was quiet. She smiled, and chuckled to herself. " _Was awfully nice of him…"_ She then stopped thinking. She just sat, enjoying the silence. Her wings moved and curled around her petite figure as she later back and placed her back and head upon the surface. She rose her hands to the back of her head and crossed them as a support of sorts. She sighed aloud, staring at the sky emptily. The life was drained from her eyes, she just stared blankly at the white clouds dotting the pure blue sky. She turned her gaze to the sun, and briefly looked at where it was in the sky. " _I'll head back in 45 minutes."_ She thought, a feeling of sonder towards her new friend taking over her mind. She lifted her right arm above her head, and pointed two connected fingers to the tower's light behind her. Suddenly, the light in the tower seemed to burst. It immediately began behaving like a liquid, falling to the tower's surface and pouring down in moments. Claire spun her hand as it dripped off the edge, and whipped her fingers up. The light flowed upwards, defying gravity and pouring towards the sky. She then pointed towards her feet, and the liquid light then began traveling sideways around the tower, forming a blob of sorts in the air in front of her. It flowed in its circle, giving off light and churning. The massive light bulb, or at least where any light had been, was now pitch black, no trace of light on it anywhere.

Claire whipped her fingers about in the air, conjuring the liquid light to form shapes for her. It bent to her whim easily without question. She, out of boredom, formed patterns like figure 8s and flowers. They glowed excellently in the sky in front of her, shining and forming shadows behind the butterfly girl. She chuckled to herself, an adorable smile forming on the faunus's pale face. She began to fully put her friend's pain behind her, her mind fully absorbed in her fidgeting.

Evan slowly walked back to the main hall, trudging his feet on the ground. He looked slightly disheveled, tired, annoyed. His arms hung low at his sides, barely moving at all when he poured his weight into a stomp. His black hair was barely in its proper shape anymore, it had knots and stuck out in places. His jacket was loosely on, the shoulder sagging below on his left arm. He quickly raised and threw that arm forward, putting the jacket in place once again. His eyes were tired, grey bags sitting underneath them. His eyes themselves looked lifeless, exhausted and irritated. "Welp." He said aloud to no one. "That happened." Evan saw shadows dancing on the ground in front of him as he grew close to the door, and upon closer inspection he saw they were flashes of light. He knew not where they came from, and looked around as best he could in his exhausted state, and found clouds and streams of light dancing above him in patterns he couldn't recognize from the ground. "That's a new one." He said in shock. It was Claire's fidgeting with light. Evan didn't know it, of course. He couldn't see Claire on the roof.

Claire however was staring at the sky at this point, tossing the light around aimlessly. She sighed. " _It's probably been an hour."_ She thought to herself. She flicked her fingers back, and the light liquid soared back to the bulb from which it came. It filled the bulb up, and went back to glowing in its place, just as Claire had found it. She stood up, her wings fluttering quickly as she stretched. She slowly stepped towards the edge of the tower and leaned forward, falling off. Her body remained still as she plummeted. Evan saw her shadow from the ground and immediately recognized the wings. "CLAIRE!" He shouted and ran under her, ready to catch her to the best of his ability, his arms and legs glowing blue like before. Claire's wings suddenly flapped and caught the air, and she glided around the tower before coming to a gentle rest a few feet to Evan's right. Evan stared at her blankly, but his face quickly shifted to irritation as he sighed. "Luna, you scared me." Claire blushed. "S- sorry…" She stuttered. "It's fine. Long as you're not paste on the road, I don't care." Evan strolled for the door, looking away from her. " _Reckless."_ He thought to himself. Claire sprinted after him and walked on his right. "Y- you don't, look too good…" Evan rolled his eyes. "Thanks." He sped up, starting to regret his choice to walk with this girl. "N- no..!" She stammered. "I didn't mean-" "Again." Evan stopped walking and turned his head to her. He paused. "It's fine." He then turned and walked into the main entrance. Claire paced slowly in after him. "Alright…" The two stayed quiet as they slowed to a stop in the room.

Evan was the first to speak up, still facing away from Claire. "Sorry bout earlier. He won't bother you again. And if he does, lemme know. More than willing to break him." Claire stepped closer. "O- ohh, no, that won't be necessary…" "It will be if he hurts you." Claire stayed quiet and stopped pacing.

After a while's silence, Claire spoke up. "C- could we take that walk now?" Evan suddenly turned and walked past her, finally looking into her eyes and smiling. "Sure!" Claire smiled to herself and walked with him out of the room.

The two paced out into the late evening. "S- so…" Claire began. "Mm?" Evan questioned.

"Is there any reason you look um… Tired..?"

"Fell asleep by a tree, didn't sleep too well."

Claire knew that wasn't true, a simple power nap couldn't have disheveled him this badly. But she chose not to speak up.

"Alright…"

"So, that was you up there with the light?"

"Y- yea…"

"That your semblance?"

"Mhm…"

"How's it work? Never seen anythin like it."

"Uhh, I can sorta, conjure light, and make it do stuff."

"Interesting, like what? Besides fidgeting with it."

"I- I wasn't fidgeting..!"

"I'd say you were."

Claire sighed. "I can make walkways, weapons, whatever really…"

"That's amazing! Seriously, pretty cool!"

"Th- thank you…"

"How'd you discover it?"

The camp was in flames. Grimm ran with impunity as the faunus soldiers of the White Fang ran helpless. A crying 10-year-old girl backed away in tears from a giant Grimm Centipede, or Ground Dweller, roared in front of her. A small orange bow hung loosely from one of its pincers, a stain of blood at the corner. The girl brushed her pink hair from her face and backed into a tree accidentally. She had nothing. No weapon, anything. Even those who were to protect her had just been devoured by this monster. She only sat against the tree and cried as the orange bow fell to the ground and landed softly in the grass, strands of darker, magenta hair tied to it. In primal anger, the grimm bashed its head against a nearby tree, which fell to the ground next to the young girl. As the tree fell, a single beam of moonlight flew from the skies and landed on her. As the grimm reared its head back, ready to consume the poor child, she threw her hands forward at it, screaming "STOP IT!" the moonlight seemed to leap out of the grass and leaves, turning them pitch black as it flew towards the grimm and struck the pincer that held the bow seconds before. The pointed tip shattered as the beam flew past and struck the beast in its eye, which burst. It screamed in pain and turned to run away. The best tore through the camp behind it, which was in flames from the earlier grimm attack. The girl watched in horror as a few remaining members of the camp stumbled up to the top of the hill away from the burning village and asked the girl if she was okay. She gave no response and simply ran into the forest crying. The tribe members started calling after her, asking where she was going. She simply cried more and ran off, deeper into the forest. The member started getting more aggressive, calling her names and ordering her return. She continued running.

"L- long story…" Claire stuttered, rubbing her eyes. "Found it when I needed it."

Evan nodded slowly "Alright." Claire smiled weakly. The pair stopped to look around. "Hey, you have any idea where we are?" Evan asked aloud, staring at the surrounding buildings. "N- no…" Claire said solemnly. "You think there might be some kinda map, or… any form of a recognizable landmark?" Claire exhaled through her nose sharply as she smiled. She nodded her head. "Nope." Evan chuckled, his face finally showing a smile as he laughed. "Ohh boy, well I officially have no idea where we are. Wanna walk around more?" Claire shifted her expression to confusion. "W- won't that just get us more lost? We do have to be at the ballroom very soon…" Evan shrugged it off casually. "Ahh well. I'll improvise. Act like I planned it." Claire smiled and stepped closer to her wolf friend. The two walked down the sidewalk, chatting away.


End file.
